Christmas Craft
by AnimationNut
Summary: It's December, it's Christmas break, and that means Peter is spending his first weekend off at the New Avengers Facility. With the Christmas party happening the same weekend, it's prime time for the Avengers Kids to get together. Cassie convinces them to join her in making Christmas ornaments. Pietro has issues with glitter.


**I do not own any characters or settings from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.**

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**Pietro should not have died and Civil War should not have drove them apart, so welcome to my humble AU where neither of those things happen. Also despite attempts at research I could not find solid evidence on how old the Maximoff twins and the Barton kids are, so I took creative liberties with the ages.**

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

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**Christmas Craft**

The grey complex known as the New Avengers Facility, nicknamed the Avengers Compound, emerged into view, blanketed against the December snowfall. Peter eagerly pressed his face against the window as the car crawled up the long driveway and passed through the security gates. He had just finished his last exam a few hours ago and was now on his Christmas break. That meant he would get to spend the whole weekend at the compound and attend the Avengers Christmas party Saturday night.

Peter had tried to convince Tony that being invited to the Avengers party basically made him an Avenger, and he might as well just make it official. Tony had responded by laughing in his face, clapping him on the shoulder and sending him off to do his Calculus homework.

"Hey!" Upon spotting the teen squishing his face against glass, his breath fogging up one side, Happy snapped, "You're leaving smudges!"

"Sorry!" Peter said, quickly leaning back. Left behind on the glass was an oily imprint of his face. "Whoops."

"Great," grumbled Happy. "You think I want to see that every time I use this car?"

"It'll wipe off." Peter tucked his hand into the sleeve of his jacket and rubbed off the prints. "See? Besides, it's a pretty handsome face. Not the worst thing to look at."

"I already see it too much," quipped Happy. "I don't need to start seeing it when you're not even around."

The sleek black car rolled to the end of the snow-covered drive and Peter wasted no time in hopping out. He ran to the main entrance, easily galloping through the thick layers of snow, and dug out his key card. He tapped the thin plastic rectangle against the scanner and a red wave ran over his body.

"Welcome back, Peter Parker," greeted F.R.I.D.A.Y.

"Hey, F.R.I.," said Peter cheerfully. The bullet-proof glass doors slid open and Peter strode inside the main lobby. "Is Mr. Stark available?"

"Yes. I'll notify him of your arrival."

"Thanks!"

There was the sound of wheels rolling against tiles and Peter glanced over his shoulder to see Happy dragging his suitcase towards him. "Anything else I can do for you, Master?" he asked sarcastically.

"I knew I was forgetting something." With a sheepish smile Peter went to take his luggage from Tony's bodyguard. "Thanks, Happy."

Happy snorted and gave the fifteen-year-old's hair a slight ruffle. "Yeah, no problem."

"Peter, Mr. Stark says you can put your items in your room. He will meet you there," spoke F.R.I.D.A.Y.

"Okay!"

"All right, I'll see you around, kid. I've got to head back to Stark Industries. My vacation doesn't start for another couple of days," said Happy.

"You're coming to the party tomorrow, right?" asked Peter hopefully.

"Wouldn't miss it."

"All right!" Peter grinned widely. "See you tomorrow, Happy."

Happy gave a slight wave of his hand and turned on his heel, heading back through the doors and jerking up the collar of his jacket to guard him against the winter wind. Peter waved after him and hoisted his suitcase into his hands. He headed through the complex, crossing through the office space and towards the far wing, where those who lived at the compound full-time resided.

Even though Peter had been at the New Avengers Facility many times, he was still in awe at the grand scale of it all. This was the place where former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents worked under the new management, where Nick Fury now helped Tony operate and train new agents, and where Peter occasionally received training from Tony and Steve.

It was all just so awesome.

Peter swung open his bedroom door and entered the grey-carpeted space. There were a few Star Wars posters on the walls. A completed LEGO Imperial Star Destroyer, which Tony had bought him a few months ago (and Peter and Ned had completely freaked out over it), sat on top of his dresser. Other than that, there weren't a whole lot of his possessions inhabiting the space, since Peter stayed over one weekend every month.

Peter dropped his suitcase onto his bed and set his backpack on his desk. Not entirely certain how long Tony would take to greet him, he turned on the television and flicked through the channels until he found a Christmas special to watch.

Ten minutes later Tony rapped on the door and Peter ripped his attention away from the holiday cartoon. "Come in!"

"Hey, Underoos." Tony stepped through the doorway and sent a glance at the television screen. "Frosty the Snowman? What are you, seven?"

Peter glared. "Hey, don't diss the classics, Mr. Stark. Didn't you ever watch Frosty?"

"I'm more of A Christmas Carol kind of guy," returned Tony.

Peter mulled this over before giving a slow nod. "Yeah, makes sense. You're both kind of grumpy."

"I invite you into my home and the first thing you do is make fun of me?" Tony crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at the teenager.

"Well, you did say this is my home too, if I want it to be," said Peter innocently. "And I don't really need an invitation to come to my own home, right? And you also made fun of me, in my home, sooo…"

Peter trailed off and Tony could not help but smirk. "You got me there, Pete." He moved to sit at the end of Peter's bed and he clapped him on the back. "How'd your Biology exam go?"

"Pretty good. Didn't really have too much trouble."

"Didn't you think you would. That small head of yours packs a pretty big brain."

"Thanks! Wait. That's a compliment, right?"

Tony shrugged. "Eh. Could go both ways. You hungry?"

"Starving," said Peter feelingly.

"Stupid question," said Tony with a chuckle. "You're always hungry."

"Not _always. _Just most of the time."

Tony's phone beeped and he dug it out of his suit jacket pocket, glancing briefly at the screen. "Looks like Lang and company have arrived. You go grab a snack—"

"It can wait." Peter jumped to his feet with a bright smile. "I bet Cass will want a snack too."

"I'm sure she will," said Tony in amusement.

They returned to the main lobby together and Peter soon found his arms full of a small, brown-haired girl. "Peter!" Cassie squealed happily. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" returned Peter with a laugh, swinging the girl in a circle. "How was your flight?"

"It was great!" said Cassie earnestly. "I watched Elf!"

"I was planning on watching Die Hard, but Maggie gave me a very detailed explanation on what would happen if I tried," joked Scott.

Peter scowled. "Mr. Lang, Die Hard is not a Christmas movie."

Cassie frowned. "What's Die Hard?"

"Something you can watch when you're much older," said Scott seriously.

"Oh. Okay."

Tony strode forwards and shook hands with Scott. "Where's the lovely Ms. van Dyne?"

"She won't be in until later tonight." Scott cast a glance at the snowfall through the floor-to-ceiling windows and frowned. "I hope the weather doesn't get any worse, or else she might not make it."

"Nah, the weather will be fine. F.R.I.D.A.Y. gave me a forecast for the week. No severe snowstorms in sight," said Tony confidently.

Scott regarded Tony in slight awe. "Are you sure I can't have one of those A.I.s?"

"Positive."

"Can I go with Peter?" asked Cassie as the fifteen-year-old set her down.

"Sure," said Scott with a dramatic sigh. "Just leave me with this luggage. But before you go, where's my hug, man?"

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Peter hurried forwards to embrace Scott. "It's really great to see you guys!"

"You too," said Scott sincerely. "We'll catch up later. I'm sure my daughter has plans for you right now."

"I have a plan myself." Looking down at Cassie, Peter asked, "Do you want a snack?"

Cassie's brown eyes lit up. "Yes please!"

"Cool! Off to the kitchen we go."

"You raided the mini fridge on the plane," said Scott in bafflement. "How can you be hungry?"

"That was forver ago," whined Cassie. "Now I'm _starving_."

Scott shook his head fondly. "All right. Do you want me to take your backpack?"

Cassie quickly gripped the straps of her pink bag and gave a strong shake of her head. "No! I'm okay."

"Then let's go get some food, m'lady!"

Cassie grabbed Peter's extended hand and the pair ran off. Scott hollered after them, "No more sugar! Cassie, you hear me?" They disappeared around the corner without a response he gave a resigned sigh. "No. She's not hearing me. Hey, Tony, you want to help me with these bags?"

"Oh, no, I don't really carry things," said Tony dismissively. "You remember where the rooms are, right?"

"Yes—"

"Cool. Make yourself at home. Dinner is at six. Don't be late."

Tony swept off, leaving Scott to call after him, "One star! Poor service!"

…

Peter and Cassie stopped by the kitchen to pile their plates with blue-iced sugar cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries and scones with jam. They went to the recreation room and, with a cookie clamped between her teeth, Cassie knelt by the glass coffee table in front of the leather couch and started pulling out supplies from her backpack.

"You want to do some crafts?" asked Peter, watching as an assortment of glitter, glue, markers, scissors, cotton balls, construction paper and popsicle sticks were piled on the table's surface.

Cassie removed the cookie from her mouth and said, "I'm going to make ornaments for Daddy, Hope, Mommy, and Papa Jim. For Christmas."

"That's a really good idea," said Peter encouragingly. "Do you want some help?"

"Do you want to make one? I brought lots of supplies."

"Er…" Peter hesitated. "I don't know. I'm not really a crafty guy."

Cassie put her hands on her hips. "You make robots!"

"But that's not _crafty_," insisted Peter. "It's completely different."

"If you can make a robot you can make an ornament," persisted Cassie. She clasped her hands together and blinked wide brown eyes up at him. "Pleeease?"

Her puppy-dog expression caused Peter's heart to melt and he gave a surrendering sigh. "Okay, okay. Lemme finish my food first."

Just as they were finishing their sugar smorgasbord, the doors slid open and the Barton kids walked in, their hair dusted with snow and cookies clutched in their hands. "Hi!" said Lila cheerfully, rushing into the room to embrace Cassie.

"You guys raided the kitchen too, huh?" asked Cooper, noticing the two crumb-covered plates stacked on the floor near the couch.

"More than you did," noted Peter. "One cookie? Seriously?"

"Clint personally escorted us to the kitchen to make sure we would not take too many sweets," said Wanda, gently bouncing baby Nathaniel against her hip. She sent her twin brother a smirk. "I suspect it was mostly to prevent Pietro from eating everything."

The white-blonde glowered at her. "I am still hungry."

"Just before we arrived here you had three double-cheeseburgers, large French fry and a large milkshake," countered Wanda. "And you've barely been running today."

"That's because I've been in a car and then an airplane and when we landed Clint wouldn't let me run the rest of the way," snapped Pietro. "And I _did _run."

"The ten laps you did around the compound five minutes ago do not count," said Wanda with a roll of her eyes.

"Guys!" cut in Peter as Cassie watched the siblings argue in bemusement. "As much as I would love to hear you bicker all day, how about a break?"

"Fine," said Pietro with a scowl.

"Sorry about Pietro. Sitting still for too long makes him grouchy," said Cooper, giving Cassie a hug and then Peter.

"Besides that, how was the trip?"

"Fine," said Wanda with a light shrug. "The little one threw up, but only once."

"That's okay, little man. I sometimes throw up on trips too," said Peter with a solemn nod. He extended his arms and Wanda passed over Nate, who giggled as Peter gently lifted him in the air. "No judgement here."

Pietro raised a brow as Peter moved Nate like an airplane around the room. "You keep doing that and he will be throwing up all over again."

"Nah. I'm sure he got it all out."

At the tugging on his hand, Pietro swung Cassie into his arms and she let out a delighted laugh. She leaned her head against his shoulder and said happily, "I'm so glad we can spend the weekend together."

"Me too!" said Lila brightly. "It's been forever. When is Shuri getting here?"

"Not until tomorrow morning," spoke Peter. "She says that it's mandatory to have a snowball fight when she arrives."

"Sweet. That'll be fun."

Wanda ran her fingers through Cassie's hair and the ten-year-old gave a hum of contentment. "We are all happy," she said softly. "I am glad we could all make it here safely."

"What is all this?" asked Pietro, noticing the craft supplies laid out on the table.

"I'm making ornaments for my family," explained Cassie. "Peter's gonna make some too."

"Ooh, I want to make some!" said Lila excitedly, hurrying over to the table and inspecting the glitter colours. "I bet Mom and Dad would love it!"

Cooper frowned. "I'll pass."

Lila shifted her gaze to glare at him. "You're making one."

"You can't order me around," said Cooper with a snort. "I'm older than you."

"And I'm older than you," spoke Pietro, reaching out his leg to lightly kick Cooper's ankle. "And I say you are making an ornament."

"Ugh. Fine. But you two have to do it too," insisted Cooper.

"Sure," agreed Wanda with a shrug. "It sounds like fun."

A tiny coughing sound and a startled yelp of disgust caught their attention. They turned to see Peter frozen in place, spit-up running down the front of his burgundy sweater, and a wiggling Nate held out at arm's length. Pietro smirked. "What? You didn't see that coming?"

"Do not," uttered Peter with wide eyes, "tell Mr. Stark about this. He'll never let me forget about it."

…

After Peter changed his sweater and cleaned up, and Nate was sitting comfortably on a mat of pillows on the floor, they clustered around the coffee table to begin their Christmas craft project.

"What if they come check on us?" said Cassie worriedly. "I don't want the surprise to be ruined."

"I gotcha." Tilting his head to the ceiling, Peter asked, "F.R.I.D.A.Y.! I know Mr. Stark is your boss and all, but can you—"

"Of course, Peter," the A.I. interjected. "I will make sure Mr. Stark and the other adults do not disturb you until you are ready."

"You're the best," said Peter gratefully.

"Thank you so much!" exclaimed Cassie.

"Where do we start?" asked Pietro in bafflement. "How do you even make an ornament?"

"You can do whatever you want!" said Cassie cheerfully. She grabbed a piece of brown construction paper and a black marker. "I'm going to make an ant in a Santa hat for Daddy."

"Nice," said Peter in approval.

Lila hummed for a moment before picking up a red piece of paper. "I'll make our house, all decorated for Christmas—and with a hanukkiah in the window, of course."

Wanda sent her a smile. "Thank you."

Cooper scratched his head and stared at Pietro and Peter. "Any ideas?"

"Nope," said Peter, staring blankly at the tubes of glitter.

"I am not made for this sort of stuff," said Pietro flatly.

"Stop grumbling," chided Wanda. She was making an outline of a polar bear on white construction paper. "Start creating."

After some hemming and hawing the three males eventually got to work. For a moment they worked in silence, markers scratching against paper, scissors snipping and glue oozing out of the bottle. Pietro was not known for being slow and steady, and when Lila noticed he was having trouble cutting out his ornament she reached over to help him.

"It's so cute!" she cried. "Dad's going to love it!"

Pietro's cheeks turned red and he mumbled, "We will see."

Cooper craned his neck to see what Peter had drawn. "Whoa, that looks so cool!"

"Thanks!" Peter surveyed his work with satisfaction. "I guess I'm not too bad at this."

Pietro reached for the gold glitter and squeezed it. But none would come out and he stared down at the nozzle with a scowl. He gave a harder squeeze, and a large glob of glitter landed right in his eye.

Lila shook her head. "That's what you get for being impatient."

"Gold is a good colour on you," deadpanned Wanda.

"Shut up."

Pietro got up with a huff and ran out of the room. He was a blur as he sped down the hall towards the bathroom. He hunched over the tub and turned on the nozzle. Warm water gushed out and he dunked his head beneath the stream, having to force his eyes open to flush out the glitter.

"You okay, buddy?"

Pietro bolted upwards; his right eye tightly shut as he looked over his shoulder. Clint stood in the doorway, staring at him in concern. "Yes. I am fine."

"Uh-huh." Not convinced, Clint moved across the white tiles towards him. He clasped Pietro's chin with one hand and gently tilted it. "Can you open your eye?"

"Not really."

"What happened?"

"Got something in it," said Pietro evasively.

"And what would that be?"

"Dunno. But it hurts like hell."

"Try opening it for me."

It took a minute, but the eighteen-year-old managed to crack it all the way open. His vision was blurry at first but it eventually cleared and Pietro grinned. "See? All better."

"Geez, kid, you need to be careful."

"Kind of hard in our line of work, no?"

Clint sent him a flat look. "You know what I mean." The lighting caught something just beneath Pietro's reddened eye. He leaned closer with a frown. "Why do you have glitter on you?"

Pietro hastily skirted around Clint, ready to make his escape. "No reason."

"Do I need to check on you lot?" the archer asked suspiciously.

"No! We are fine. We are being good. I promise. Just a little accident."

After spending a few years with the teenager, Clint was now an expert on detecting when they were telling the truth and when they were not. Deeming Pietro's words sincere, Clint nodded. "All right. Don't run in the halls."

Pietro gave a half-hearted sound of acknowledgement before returning to the recreation room. When he sat back down Peter squinted and said, "Dude, your eye is like, really red."

"Shut up," repeated Pietro.

When he bypassed the glitter completely Wanda rolled her eyes and seized the tube. "Tell me where you want it."

…

"Boss?"

"Hang on, Pep, F.R.I.D.A.Y. is summoning me." Turning his head slightly away from his phone, Tony said mock-reprovingly, "Can't you see I'm talking to Pepper?"

"Your presence is needed in the recreation room. Mr. Lang and Mr. and Mrs. Barton are also on route."

Tony's posture straightened and a jolt of panic went through his gut. "Are the kids okay?"

"They are fine. They have asked for you."

"Well, what do they need—"

"Tony," said Pepper sharply. "Are you really not going to Peter's side when he asks for you?"

"No, of course not, I was just—" Huffing out a breath Tony got up from his office chair. "I'll call you back, Pepper."

"Good man. I'll talk to you soon. Love you."

"Yeah, love you too. Bye."

Tony hung up and stuck his phone into his pocket. He walked briskly through the compound and reached the recreation room the same time as the other adults. Laura sent him a look of confusion. "Do you know what this is about?"

"Not a clue. I think my own A.I. has been working against me."

"Only slightly," said F.R.I.D.A.Y. unashamedly.

The glass doors slid open and the adults walked inside, coming to a halt when they spotted the glitter and glue covered table. The kids stood near the couch, hands behind their backs and positively beaming at them.

"Do you know how much this table cost?" asked Tony, aghast. "And why do you have dirty dishes on the floor?"

Laura elbowed him sharply in the side and sent a warm smile towards the kids. "What have you made?"

"You first," Peter said to Cassie. "It was your idea."

Cassie skipped forwards and thrust an ornament out to Scott. It was an ant, wearing a glittery red Santa hat and bearing a cotton ball beard. "It's a Christmas ornament! For you."

Delight filled Scott's face and he picked Cassie up, kissing her forehead. "It's perfect, Peanut! I love it."

"I made one for Hope, and Mommy and Papa." Cassie held out the rest of her handmade ornaments. There was a wasp wearing a Santa hat and a Mrs. Claus dress, a glitter-covered heart with a Christmas bow, and a police badge that read in careful printing, _Santa's #1 Helper_.

"Hmm. I wonder which one is for Hope," said Scott with a furrowed brow.

"This one," said Cassie with a laugh, holding out the wasp. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"She's going to be crazy about it."

"Me next," said Tony, waving Peter forward. "I should have gone first but I'm willing to overlook it."

Suddenly uncertain, Peter walked over and handed Tony his ornament. It was a depiction of Iron Man and Spider-Man in red and yellow glitter and black marker. Peter had put a Santa hat on Iron Man's head and an elf hat on his own head. Tony stared at it silently and Peter felt his ears turn red.

"It's stupid, isn't it? I suck at this sort of thing—"

"It's perfect," cut in Tony abruptly, succeeding in getting the words out of his suddenly constricted throat. His chest tight with emotion, he looped his arm around the fifteen-year-old, who happily tucked his head against Tony's shoulder. "I need more. I need one for every tree I own."

"I'll try," said Peter with a smile.

"You did make Pepper one, right? She may kill you if you didn't."

"Of course I did. I made one for May and Happy too."

Pepper's ornament was a white cotton ball bear with reindeer antlers. Happy's was a smiling gingerbread cookie and May's was a snowflake with silver glitter.

Clint clapped his hands and said with a grin, "All right, let's see them."

Wanda came forwards first with Nate in her arms. "We have something for them, don't we?" she cooed softly.

It was a baby polar bear in a red scarf. Written along the scarf in beautiful handwriting was _Baby's First Christmas. _Laura gently took it between her fingers, an overjoyed smile on her lips. "It's lovely! Thank you, Wanda. And thank you, Nate."

Nate waved his pudgy little arms as his mother took him into her hold and Clint wrapped Wanda in a hug. "It's perfect, kiddo."

"We did some too!" said Lila eagerly. She held out her popsicle stick and construction paper farmhouse, complete with glitter decorations and hanukkiah in the window. "I put the lights on the house for us and then there's the hanukkiah for Wanda and Pietro."

"You definitely got this talent from your mother," said Clint with a shake of his head as he tousled Lila's hair.

"Clearly, considering you can't even paint a bathroom," said Pietro with a smirk.

"Don't know why you're laughing, Mr. Glitter In The Eye," said Clint with a scoff. "Let's see it, smart-aleck."

"Cooper first," said Pietro, pushing the thirteen-year-old forwards.

Cooper extended his ornament for his father, which was an archery target inside of a Christmas wreath. "Ah, that's so cool, sport!" said Clint with a smile, bringing him in for a hug. He looked up at Pietro and said teasingly, "No more stalling. Give it to us."

"He won't laugh," added Laura kindly, shooting her husband a warning look.

"Course not."

Pietro took a quick breath and hesitantly presented Clint with his ornament. It was an outline of seven people—two adults, three small children, and two young adults. They were standing around a gold hanukkiah, and at the bottom of the simple picture was a word written in Hebrew. Pietro opened his mouth to explain what it meant, but Clint beat him to the punch.

"Family." When Pietro regarded him with surprise, Clint raised a brow. "I've done my research, kid."

While Pietro knew Clint and Laura had studied the meaning of important Jewish prayers, and had always been more than willing to celebrate Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays even though they weren't of Jewish faith, he had never expected them to remember what each Hebrew word meant.

"Come here."

Clint extended his arm and Pietro stepped into the embrace, warmth swelling into his chest as Clint pressed a kiss to his temple. "We love you kids."

"Very much," said Laura strongly, pulling her two girls close to her.

"I think these ornaments would look perfect on the Christmas tree we're going to have for the party tomorrow," declared Tony. "I believe it's already set up in the conference room. Or it better be, or someone is getting fired."

"Can we put them on now?" asked Cassie eagerly.

"Absolutely. But first, you kids are cleaning off that table. And bring those dishes into the kitchen before I have a nervous breakdown."

Peter made a face. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Tony squeezed the back of his neck and gave him a light push. "You better get that glitter off."

Scott set Cassie down and gently collected her ornaments. "You always have to clean up the messes you make, right Peanut?"

"Yes, Daddy," said Cassie with a nod.

"Peter, show them where the cleaning supplies are." Tony snapped his fingers. "Get to it. Don't let the tiny ones touch the chemicals."

"Fine," said Peter with a sigh.

The kids trudged out of the room and Nate waved after them with a babble. Clint lightly tickled his tummy and said, "Better enjoy this, Nate, because soon enough you're not going be let off the hook for being too little."

Tony admired his ornament, his heart full of love, and felt tremendously grateful for having the Queens teenager in his life. "They're good kids. Mine's the best, obviously."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "I mean, Pete's definitely great, but Cass is better."

Clint glowered at them. "I have five awesome children and I'll fight you."

Laura felt her lips twitch in amusement. "I would say this is a pointless argument, as they're all wonderful, but I must agree with Clint. Ours are awesome."

There was the sound of feet running against the tiles and Cooper appeared in the doorway, face flushed red and breathless with laughter. "P-Peter spilled the soap, and some of it got into Pietro's eye," he cackled. "He's freaking out."

Clint rolled his eyes heavenward, ignored Tony's smirk and Scott's laugh, and started off to help his unfortunate son.

"Flushing out his eye twice in one day—what a start to the holidays."


End file.
